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On 28 June, Cardinal J. Francis Stafford gave to the founders of the
Neocatechumenal Way the decree of approval ad experimentum for
five years of the Statutes of the Way. Earlier the Holy Father had
designated the Pontifical Council to oversee the writing of the
Statutes. The approval formalizes the Holy Father's recognition
expressed in a Letter of 30 August 1990 in which he stated: "I
recognize the Neocatechumenal Way as a valid means of Catholic
formation for society and for the present time". The
Neocatechumenal Way was approved as a way of Christian initiation for
the rediscovery of Baptism and ongoing formation of the baptized.
It is also approved as a form of adult catechumenate to prepare adults
for Baptism. The canonical challenge was to find an appropriate formula
for the Way. It is not an ecclesial movement or an association of the
faithful but a way of reviving Baptism or preparing for Baptism.
The Decree of approval is for five years (ad experimentum).
The Neocatechumenal Way began in 1964 in the slums of
Palomeras Altas, Madrid, through the work of Mr Francisco (Kiko)
Argüello and Ms Carmen Hernández who, at the request of the poor with
whom they were living, began to proclaim to them the Gospel of Jesus
Christ. As time passed, this kerygma was embodied in a
catechetical synthesis, founded on the tripod: "Word of
God-Liturgy-Community", that seeks to lead people to fraternal
communion and mature faith.
Beginnings in Madrid and Spain
This new catechetical experience, born in the wake of the renewal
inspired by the Second Vatican Council, attracted the keen interest of
Archbishop Casimiro Morcillo, then Archbishop of Madrid, who encouraged
the initiators of the Way to spread it to the parishes who asked for it.
This experience of evangelization thus spread gradually through the
Archdiocese of Madrid and to other Spanish dioceses.
Beginning in Rome
In 1968, the initiators of the Neocatechumenal Way arrived in Rome
and settled in the Borghetto Latino. With the permission of Cardinal
Angelo Dell'Acqua, then Vicar General of His Holiness for the city and
district of Rome, the first catechesis began in the parish of Our Lady
of the Blessed Sacrament and the Canadian Martyrs. Since then, the Way
has continued to spread to dioceses around the world and even to mission
countries.
Itinerary for rediscovery of Baptism
The Neocatechumenal Way is at the service of the bishops and parish
priests as an itinerary for the rediscovery of Baptism and an ongoing
education in the faith, offered to the faithful who want to revive in
their lives the riches of Christian initiation by travelling this path
of conversion and catechesis. As the Holy Father wrote, in this process
an important help can be offered by "a post-baptismal catechesis in
the form of the catechumenate by presenting again some elements from the
'Rite of the Christian Initiation of Adults' with the purpose of
allowing a person to grasp and live the immense and extraordinary
richness and responsibility of the Baptism he has received" (Christifideles
laici, n. 61).
The Way—whose itinerary is lived in parishes and in small
communities made up of people of different ages and social conditions—has
the ultimate goal of gradually bringing the faithful to intimacy with
Jesus Christ, making them active subjects of the Church and credible
witnesses of the Good News of our Saviour everywhere. The
Neocatechumenal Way is also an instrument for the Christian initiation
of adults who are preparing themselves to receive Baptism.
Guidelines given for the Way
The actual practice of the Way follows the guidelines contained in
the Catechetical Directory The Neocatechumenal Way, Guidelines for
the teams of catechists (cf. Statutes, art. 2,2),
subject to the joint approval of the Congregations for the Doctrine of
the Faith, for the Clergy and for Divine Worship and the Discipline of
the Sacraments.
At different times and in different ways, the Holy Father has
addressed the Neocatechumenal Way in order to stress the abundant fruits
of Gospel radicalism and the extraordinary missionary zeal that it
brings to the life of the lay faithful, to families, to parish
communities, and the wealth of vocations; it inspires to the priestly
and religious life, proving to be an "itinerary of Catholic
formation, valid for our society and our time" (AAS 82
[1990] 1513-1515).
Request for statutes
In the audience granted to the initiators and directors of the
Neocatechumenal Way from around the world on 24 January 1997, on the
occasion of the commemoration of the 30 years of life of the Way, the
Holy Father expressly urged the drafting of the Statutes, "a very
important step that will open the way to the formal juridical
recognition by the Church, and giving you a further guarantee of the
authenticity of your charism" (Address to the Neocatechumenal Way,
25 January 1997, p. 4; ORE, 5 February 1997, p. 9). From that
moment, accompanied by the Pontifical Council for the Laity, the
initiators began the process of elaborating a set of norms that would
able to regulate the practice and integration of the Neocatechumenal Way
into the ecclesial framework.
Pontifical Council of the Laity
On 5 April 2001, in an Autograph Letter addressed to Cardinal James
Francis Stafford, President of the Pontifical Council for the Laity, the
Supreme Pontiff, while repeating his request, reconfirmed this Council's
competence to approve the Statutes of the Neocatechumenal Way and
entrusted to its competence the future guidance of the Way (cf. Letter
to Cardinal Francis Stafford, President of the Pontifical Council
for the Laity, 5 April 2001; ORE, 2 May 2001, p. 5).
And so:
Taking into account the numerous spiritual fruits that the practice
of the Neocatechumenal Way—whose existence has been accepted and
appreciated in many local Churches for more than 30 years—has
contributed to the new evangelization, and which have been reported to
the Pontifical Council for the Laity by many letters of recommendation
of Cardinals, Patriarchs and Bishops;
After careful examination of the text of the Statutes, the result of
a laborious process of collaboration between the initiators of the
Neocatechumenal Way and the Pontifical Council for the Laity, who made
use of the contribution in their areas of specific competence offered by
the different departments of the Roman Curia;
Taking note of the request sent to this Council on 5 April 2002, of
Mr Francisco (Kiko) Argüello, Ms Carmen Hernández and Fr Mario Pezzi,
members of the international leadership team of the Neocatechumenal Way,
asking the Council to hasten the approval of the Statutes of the
Neocatechumenal Way;
Relying on articles 131 and 133, § 1 and § 2, of the Apostolic
Constitution Pastor Bonus on the Roman Curia, the Pontifical
Council for the Laity
Decrees
the approval "ad experimentum" for a Period of five years
of the Statutes of the Neocatechumenal Way, as duly authenticated by the
Council, of which a copy must be deposited in the archives of the
Council. This is done with the confidence that the approved statutes
offer firm and secure guide-lines for the life of the Way and are an
important aid for Pastors in their fatherly and careful accompaniment of
the neocatechumenal communities.
Given in the Vatican on 29 June 2002, Solemnity of Sts
Peter and Paul, Apostles, Patrons of the City of Rome.
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